---
title: A Tour of Actual
---

Welcome to the Actual tour, where we will give you insights into the Interface.

This Tour of Actual is not meant to replace the user manual. If you want to dive directly into how to use the software, please consult the section on the left called **Using Actual**.

You could also read our thorough [Starting Fresh guide](/docs/getting-started/starting-fresh), but save that for when you decide that Actual Budget is for you.

## Are you using other budgeting software?

If you are looking at this Tour of Actual, you are likely using some other software and want to learn about Actual. To do so, just go ahead and click on the various tour topics on the left.

## Are you looking into using Actual as your electronic budgeting software?

Suppose you have yet to use any budgeting software before. In that case, it's worth noting that Actual uses the [envelope budgeting model](/docs/getting-started/envelope-budgeting). The big and beautiful difference between envelope budgeting and more common methods is that with envelope budgeting, you can only budget with the money you actually have, not the money you think you will get in the future.

Our tour will touch on the following topics:

- A [quick overview](./user-interface) of the Actual Budget interface.
- The [budget view](./budget) is where you plan how to save and what you need to spend money on.
- Without transactions in the [account register](./accounts), there would be no point in having a budget.
- Actual also has a few other functions we will look at, like [scheduling transactions](./schedules) and [rules](./rules), which will help you automate when entering or importing transactions.
- Lastly, we have [beautiful reports](./reports) to show you.
